Systems used to communicate with a communication partner located at a separate place (a remote site) have been developed. For example, PTL 1 describes a remote conference system used to conduct a conference with a person located at a separate place. The system described in PTL 1 includes a camera for capturing the images of a person, a projector for projecting the images, and a screen that displays the images projected by the projector.
According to the system described in PTL 1, the image of a person captured by a camera set in a conference room is projected onto a screen by a projector set at the location of the communication partner (a remote site). In addition, the image of a person captured by a camera set at the location of the communication partner is projected onto a screen by a projector set in the conference room. Furthermore, according to the system described in PTL 1, by displaying a real-size image of a person, the realistic sensation of actually being in a conference room can be increased.
When several people physically located in the same space (e.g., the same room) communicate with one another, the people are generally standing and face one another at a distance of about 1 to 2 m. If such a form of communication or a similar form of communication can be applied to communication with people in a remote site, the people can easily communicate with one another and understand one another. However, it is difficult for existing systems to give sufficient realistic sensation, since even when the real-size image of a person is projected, a sensation of facing each other in close proximity cannot be generated if the distance between the projection plane and the person is significantly large.
If, to solve such an issue, a person stands in close proximity to the screen, people may feel that the person is in close proximity thereof. However, if the person stands in close proximity to the screen, it is difficult for a camera to capture the entire front image of the person. If the camera is set in very close proximity of the screen, part of the image of the person (e.g., the image of only the upper body) can be captured. However, since the angle of view of the camera in the vertical direction is limited, the image of the entire body of the person cannot be captured. If the image of the entire body of the person is not displayed, the realistic sensation of actually being there is reduced. In addition, it is difficult to have a conversation through talking and gesture or behavior.